


How this story ends

by hippydeath



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 04:27:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7603345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hippydeath/pseuds/hippydeath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nightmares have always plagued Hux's sleep, but this time Ren is there to pull him from them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How this story ends

**Author's Note:**

> Someone on tumblr asked for one of these two having nightmares and the other comforting them. Kylo ain't the best at comfort, but he tries, bless his heart.
> 
> Despite lurking since the film came out, this is the first Kylux that I've published (barring snippets of stuff on my tumblr).

Ren comes awake to the vague sensation that something is off. Without thinking, and still partially asleep, he reached out with the Force, trying to find the source of the feeling, searching for a threat or some impending accident that might be upsetting his sleep.  
  
What he finds is not an attempted assassination or attach, nor a potential ship malfunction, but something much closer. Hux, locked rigid and trapped in his sleep, unable to wake from whatever horror his mind is forcing him to experience. He’s barely moving, only the lightest breathing and his eyes twitching, his limbs paralysed as his mind works over and over.  
  
Kylo is no stranger to nightmares, and he knows that Hux has his share of them, but somehow he’s never been there when Hux’s have been this bad, and he’s not sure what to do.  
  
He tries calling Hux’s name, then reaches out, his hand brushing Hux’s shoulder carefully. When that has no effect, he murmurs Hux’s name quietly, shaking his shoulder very slightly, then slightly harder, but there’s still no reaction. Creasing his eyebrows together in frustration he settles back down, hand still on Hux’s shoulder and tries to see what it is that is causing him such distress.  
  
Hux’s mind, for all it’s order, is usually easy for Kylo to slip into, but in his terror, Hux has managed to shut Kylo out, and it takes time for him to carefully slip in. The first thing that he becomes aware of is the fact that it’s cold and damp, and Hux is smaller than he’s used to.  


The light is low; not full night, but that awkward time when most of the light has gone out of the evening, and the storm clouds overhead do nothing to make it any brighter. A persistent drizzle is falling, and Kylo shivers. There are people in front and behind him, adults, but the only ones that Hux seems to really be aware of are the man and woman directly in front of him. Dressed in dull greys and browns, the man has First Order insignia on the sleeve of his coat, and the woman has the same coppery coloured hair as Hux. Hux is struggling to keep up with them, but they push on, all of them in single file along a narrow land bridge. He has no idea where they are or where they are going, but Hux knows he cannot lag behind, but at the same time, things keep falling from his bag, forcing him to stop and pick them up.  
  
After the third or fourth time this happens, Kylo stoops instead to pick the thing up; it’s a small stuffed animal. Hux looks at him with some kind of recognition as he reaches for the toy at the same time.  
  
“Ren?” His voice is timid and unbroken, but still somehow, Hux.  
  
People start to push them forwards, faceless figures that won’t let them stop. Hux hurries to catch up with what Kylo assumes are his parents, another toy falling from his bag, although Kylo can’t see an opening or hole in it. He grabs it as Hux looks back, worried.  
  
“I’ve got them,” Kylo assures him, keeping up with the flow of people easily.  
  
The land bridge doesn’t seem to end, stretching out ahead of them for as far as Kylo can see.  
  
Thunder rumbles overhead and Hux flinches, below, the ground almost seems to roll with the sound, and Hux looks around, panicked. His parents are somehow further in front of him, but every time he tries to run and catch up, more things fall from his bag; soft toys, books, small wooden playthings that Kylo can’t imagine him ever owning. There are other things in there as well that he slowly collects as they march onwards; rank insignia, a small model of the Finalizer, one of Starkiller, a pressed flower that Kylo has never seen before.  
  
He tries to hand them back to Hux, who fumbles them into his bag again, for the process to start over.  
  
“What is this?” he asks eventually, handing the Finalizer back to Hux who is trying to keep pace with the long legged adults around him.  
  
Hux just shakes his head.  
  
“You’re dreaming Hux, you need to wake up.”  
  
Hux just stares up at him, “We have to get to…” the last word he says doesn’t make sense, but Kylo is running out of patience now.  
  
“You have to wake up.” He insists.  
  
Hux shakes his head, “I have to go with them. We have to get there.”  
  
“Then run.”  
  
The sky rumbles again, and Hux trips, his short legs tired and too slow to keep up with people.  
  
“I’ll drop things if I run.” He sounds horrified at the idea, and Kylo can’t work out why. Hux in real life has virtually no belongings, certainly nothing from his childhood.  
  
He looks around, people trudging for forever as far as he can see. There’s no way out of this dream unless Hux wakes himself up, which seems unlikely, or if he gets to the end. So Kylo makes a choice.  
  
“Hold on tight Hux,” he says, scooping the small figure up into his arms. “I’ve got you.” And he runs.  
  
It’s dream logic, so Hux’s bag is suddenly clutched to his chest rather than on his back, and he’s holding on to it for dear life, face tucked in to Kylo’s neck. Kylo has the advantage of long legs and years of training, as well as years of fighting on uneven terrain, so he scoots down the side of the slope and runs at full pelt. The scenery starts to change, still dark and grey, but the mud and rain making way for dingy corridors and narrow ship walkways until he feels Hux jerk against him, clutching the thin shirt he’d gone to sleep in as the two of them break free of the dream at the same time.  


He’s got his arms tight round Hux, whose breathing is shaky and shallow, burrowed into Kylo’s chest, and Kylo rubs soothing circles on his back as he waits for Hux to come back to himself properly. He murmurs nonsense and wonders if Hux would rather he ignored the obvious sobs, or if he said something.  
  
“When we left Arkanis, we left virtually everything behind.” He feels Hux talking against his chest, and strokes his back some more, “I think,” Hux pauses, “I tried to take some toys, my mother gave me a book, an old one, made of flimsi, but,” he sucks in a deep breath and tries to steady his voice, “my father wouldn’t let me keep them. Said they were for children, and I was going to have to grow up. Every time I tried to keep something for me, he’d take it, or it would vanish.”  
  
Kylo never knew that kind of deprivation as a child, but he can maybe understand a little of why Hux is so reluctant to attach himself to anything. Especially after Starkiller.  
  
“I’m not going anywhere,” Kylo assures him.  
  
Hux pulls back, just far enough that even in the dark, he can look at Kylo, “Really? What happens when the Supreme Leader orders you away? What happens if you die?”  
  
“He won’t order me away, not forever. And if he tries I will come back.” He promises, “and if I die,” he pauses, “then you will move on and I will be there, in the Force, watching you.”  
  
Hux snorts, unclenches a fist from Kylo’s shirt and wipes at his face.  
  
“Why the land bridge?” Kylo asks, diverting this away from his inevitable death.  
  
“It was a feature on one of the planets we stopped at. It didn’t rain so much there, that was Arkanis, but I can remember it, sort of. It terrified me. Water on both sides, and no railings or anything.”  
  
“So of course you install railings in all First Order bases and ships now,” Kylo jokes.  
  
“Oh shush.” Hux still sounds wrung out, but his breathing is almost back to normal, his heart steadying and his voice clear, so Kylo starts to pull away from him, until the hand still holding his shirt keeps him in place. “You meant it?” Hux asks.  
  
It takes Kylo a moment to place what he means, then pulls the other man closer. “All of it.” He says, one hand lightly resting at the nape of Hux’s neck, the other on his hip.  
  
Hux nods to himself, and then leans back just a little, just far enough that he can kiss Kylo.  
  
It’s sleepy and slow, and Kylo can still feel how unsettled Hux’s mind is, but he relaxes into it.  
  
“I’ve got you,” he says quietly as they break to breathe, and when Hux goes back for another kiss, it’s a little harder, a little more desperate, and Kylo sighs into it, doing his best to keep it gentle.  
  
They lie like that for a while, trading kisses and careful soft touches until Hux’s breathing is just a little ragged, and they’re grinding slowly against each other.  
  
“Yeah?” Kylo asks, hand at the waistband of Hux’s boxers, and Hux breathes his agreement against his neck, letting Kylo push the offending article of clothing out the way. His own follow quickly, and Hux swears quietly as they brush skin against skin.  
  
They carry on like that, trading kisses and touches until Kylo pulls Hux on top of him, settling him between spread thighs and Hux has the leverage to really grind down. It’s over quickly after that, he comes, pushing his head into the crook of Kylo’s neck to try and hide the broken sounds he’s making, the space between them now wet and sticky.  
  
After a moment or so he seems to realise that Kylo is still hard, still thrusting up against him, and he pushes himself away to get a hand between them, “What do you?” he asks, looking down at Kylo in the dark.  
  
“Just,” Kylo gasps, pushing up into the skin between hip and thigh, “Shit, Hux,” he curls up as Hux wraps a hand around his cock and strokes him, just this side of too hard and he’s coming as well, crunching up to kiss Hux, lips finding lips even in the dark.  
  
“No,” he complains as Hux tries to pull away.  
  
“This is disgusting.” Hux counters, running a hand through the come collected on their shirts and stomachs.  
  
Ren just laughs and wraps his arms around Hux. “Sleep.” He says, flopping back down and dragging Hux with him. “Shower in the morning.”  
  
He holds Hux there until he feels him finally relaxing, although not enough that he doesn’t seem to jerk himself awake every time it feels like he’s about to doze off.  
  
“Sleep Hux. I told you,” he presses a kiss to the side of Hux’s head, “I’ve got you.”  
  
Hux snuffles against his shoulder, but the next time Kylo feels him start to doze off, he lets himself fall asleep again.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm over on [tumblr](http://anonymousblueberry.tumblr.com/)


End file.
